This blog is dedicated to treating everyone - clients, prospects, friends, and family - as valuable partners. We should show them our gratitude through all our actions, including our marketing.

December 22, 2013

Appreciation Marketing – Give To Everyone

Many of us are franchisees of companies where we come into
contact with customers of other franchisees of our same company. We must not
look upon those customers as “lost” to ourselves but as valuable customers of
our parent company. We are representatives of our company, not only for our
clients and prospects, but to everyone that has chosen to place their trust and
faith in our company.

During the past weeks I have met several customers of other
representatives of my company who needed someone to provide them information,
training, or just answers to their inquiries. Like every other major company,
our customer service department is top notch, but is very busy this time of the
year. Therefore, it is imperative that local representatives provide assistance
to everyone that may need support.

Personally, I cannot understand anyone who develops a client
base and then abandons them during their time of need. I believe so much in
customer service that I willingly will assist anyone who has questions about my
business, whether it be of a customer support type or just a general inquiry. I
don’t care if you are my client or someone else’s, I will help you if I can. If
for no other reason, it is great karma.

Of course, there is always the case of the representative of
a company who has passed away, moved out of the area, retired, or just is not
able to be found. The local client may not have anyone who can spend some time
with them and answer some basic questions. It costs us very little effort to
reach out to that person and help them. We should not do this with the thought
of “stealing” the customer for ourselves, but with the intent of helping
someone who is a customer of our company.

We must believe in the company for which we work, if it is
not our own, and we must treat it as if it is our own. We must help the
customers of our company as if they are our own, even when they are not,
because they are customers of our company. We must “do the right thing” and
help someone who needs some great customer service. The good that we do will be
returned to us through karma.

Customer service should not stop with our own clients, nor
should it only be provided through a corporate department that answers
inquiries for us. As representatives of a business, as franchisees, we must
provide the service that all clients need and want. If we do this, these clients
will do what all happy clients do, provide referrals for us and help us grow
our business.

Providing customer service for other representatives’
customers will help our company to grow and prosper, and that will benefit
everyone, representatives and customers. These customers may see you as the
person to whom they will refer others instead of the representative whom they
cannot locate. You will prosper because you helped someone who needed
assistance and would have been lost as a referral source.

As a representative
of any company you have a responsibility to provide customer service to the
people to whom you market your product or service. Doing the same for the
customers of other representatives of your company, when they fail to do so,
will allow you to prosper as the company prospers. It is the right thing to do.
Please leave me your comments, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com,
or call me at 360-314-8691.